New Solar Images Reveal Sun's Surface in Detail

Scientists have captured the most detailed images ever taken of the Sun's surface, revealing an unexpectedly dynamic landscape and providing fresh insights into the star's behaviour.

The images were obtained using the National Science Foundation's Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Maui, Hawaii. Although looking directly at the Sun is unsafe without proper eye protection, the telescope enabled researchers to study its intensely hot outer layer in unprecedented detail.

Initially recorded to calibrate and test the telescope, the images revealed the Sun's surface with a level of clarity never seen before.

Among the most remarkable features were delicate, feather-like patterns stretching across the solar surface.

Solar physicist Ruizhu Chen of Stanford University, who was not involved in the study, said the swirling structures resembled the dramatic skies portrayed in Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night.

Researchers identified the patterns as ripples created by magnetised plasma moving at different speeds, producing instabilities similar to waves formed when wind blows across water.

Study co-author Friedrich Wöger of the National Solar Observatory said the phenomenon, previously observed on Earth and on planets such as Jupiter and Saturn, had never been seen so clearly on the Sun's surface.

The findings were published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Scientists believe the observations will improve understanding of the Sun's behaviour, particularly the processes behind coronal mass ejections—powerful eruptions of solar material that can travel toward Earth.

When these eruptions reach Earth, they can trigger solar storms capable of disrupting GPS, satellite and communication systems, while also producing spectacular auroras.